St. Stephen Catholic School
March 14, 2024
Important updates in this week's Tidbits
Spring Pictures
March Madness Raffle
Rice Bowls
Lenten Fish Fry
Yearbook Custom Pages and Recognition Ads Information
Volunteer Opportunities
Tampa Catholic Lacrosse Summer Camp
Principal's Points
Hello St. Stephen Families!
Have you purchased your raffle ticket yet? Tomorrow is the second draw for $300. Don't miss this opportunity and tune into the morning show for the winner.
Have you ordered lunch yet for April? Please remember that for the lunch program to succeed, we must have a minimum number of orders daily. We are not meeting those numbers, and the program is running in a deficit. Please consider ordering even a few times each month to make this work.
Do you sometimes wonder what is discussed at PTCO Board meetings or School Advisory Board meetings? Now you can read about the discussions on our school website. Minutes will be available on the PTCO page and the School Advisory page. The PTCO minutes can also be found below. For full transparency, the school financials are now available on the school website on the Financials page. This can be found under the "About" tab. I understand there have been some questions about how fundraising revenue is spent. Please read Tidbits consistently as this information is always shared here and now you can see where most of our expenses are. If you have questions, I am available to answer your questions or listen to your concerns.
Speaking of fundraising, our Spirit Raffle is going well. Be sure you are meeting your fundraising obligation while helping us meet our goals. The plan for funds raised from this event is to buy more ClearTouch Flat Panels. We will also be using some of the funds from Angels Among Us to complete our purchasing goal of Flat Panels for this year.
This year's Angels Gala was a success with earnings of $75,000. I am very appreciative of all the time and effort that was put into this event. Some of this money will be used for technology purchases (ClearTouch panels and iPads). We are reviewing our technology plan to see what other upgrades may be needed. Some of the funds will be added to our Building Fund and some will go towards summer projects on the playground. The final determination will come towards the end of the year.
Our building fund currently has $800,000. We opened the building fund with $500,000 and have recently added $300,000. We hope to add another $200,000 at the end of the fiscal year. Most of this money comes from Grants we participated in during the post-Covid years and from donations to Angels Among Us and Supporting Excellence. The goal for this fund is to build our future middle school wing and to continue to make repairs/upgrades to the existing building.
Do you want to be more involved in your child's school? Do you have great ideas for the PTCO events we sponsor? Do you want to help the school in its mission to achieve excellence in all we do? Then consider nominating yourself for a position on the PTCO board. Nominations are due March 20. Even if you do not want to be on the Board, consider signing up for a committee. We will have a sign-up sheet at the next General PTCO meeting on April 25 for committee chairs and other opportunities to be part of PTCO.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Peace,
Linda Umoh
Re-enrollment 2024-2025
(Click the links below)
Upcoming Events
March 1-21 - Spirit Raffle
March 13-15 - Nature's Classroom
March 15 - Green Shirt and Jean Day
March 17 - Fifth Sunday of Lent
March 19 - Spring Picture Day
March 22 - Living Stations at the Church
March 24 - Palm Sunday
March 28 - Holy Thursday
March 28 - Living Stations
March 28 - NOON Dismissal
March 28 - NO AFTERNOON EXTENDED DAY CARE
March 29 - Good Friday
March 31 - Easter Sunday
April 1 - Easter Monday
March 29-April 5 - NO SCHOOL/EASTER BREAK
April 12 - PTCO Book Exchange
April 12 - NOON Dismissal
2024-25 School Calendar Dates
First Day of School August 12
Thanksgiving Break November 25 - 29
Christmas Break December 23 - January 3
Lent Pause March 17-21
Easter Break April 18 - 22
Spring Pictures
PTCO Board Meeting Minutes
Please click the link below to learn more about what was discussed at the last PTCO meeting.
Joke of the week
What did the paper say to the pen?
See BELOW for the Answer
Surprise Your Mustang with a Message Sign on "Own the Avenue"
Great for Birthdays, Congratulations, Job Well Done, Thank you, Proud of You
Easy to do.... use the link below or call the school office with any questions
Information about Own the Avenue
IMPORTANT: Please note, this is a yearly fundraiser that is on a first-come basis (via SignUpGenius). For example, if you purchase a sign this year for a specific week 9-17-23 thru 9-23-23, that same week is not guaranteed to you for future years. It is required that you sign up each school year if you wish to participate.
March Madness Volunteers Needed
SSCS PTCO is looking for parent volunteers for the March Madness events! Click the link below to sign up for the Fish Fry and the Dad vs Student Basketball Game! Enjoy the fun and earn volunteer hours at the same time!
PTCO NOMINATIONS
It is time once again to be thinking about running for a position on the PTCO Executive Board for the 2024-25 School Year. Please consider what you or someone you know can contribute to the St. Stephen PTCO and nominate yourself or someone else (with their permission) for one of the open positions.
The positions are:
President Social/Hospitality Coordinator
Vice President Fundraising Coordinator
Secretary School Life Coordinator
Treasurer
In order to run for President, you must be a current PTCO Board member. For more information about PTCO, please check the By-Laws on the school website https://www.sscsfl.org/ptco
The Due Date to Nominate is MARCH 20, 2024.
Click the link below to submit your nominations.
PTCO EXECUTIVE BOARD NOMINATIONS FORM
Rice Bowls
Your child recently brought home a CRS Rice Bowl to practice almsgiving during Lent. These rice bowls raise funds for families in poor and underdeveloped countries. The students have been learning in their classrooms about the countries CRS has chosen to receive the funds this year. The rice bowls are due March 22. May this Lenten season be a time of growth in our faith as we practice more praying, fasting, and almsgiving.
Items Needed for PreK3
PreK3 needs large cleaned prescription bottles. If you have any please drop them off at the Office.
Yearbook Custom pages and Recognition Ads available.
Please see below.
Mustang Sports
MUSTANG SPORTS:
The girls track and boys flag football seasons got started this week. The girls track team has a few weeks of practice before the first field event meet on Thursday, April 11, at Christ the King. The complete girls track meet event schedule is available on the school webpage under Athletics. Boys flag football tryouts were last week. The team has been selected and practice started this week. The Mustangs first game is Tuesday, April 9, against Christ the King here at St. Stephen at 4:15 pm. The complete 2024 boys flag football game schedule is available on the school website under Athletics.
Field Day 2024 is about a month away on Thursday, April 18. K-4th will participate in the morning from 9:00-10:30 am and 5th-8th will attend in the afternoon from 1:00-2:30 pm. There will be fun and competitive activity stations for the students and a bouncy house obstacle course.
If there are any parents/families that still need service hours and you would like to volunteer at Field Day please contact Coach Green as soon as possible. Parents can earn two volunteer hours per session. Coach Green needs help supervising the classes for the K-4 session. The 8th graders supervise the activity stations for those classes. Help is needed running the activity stations AND supervising the classes for the 5th-8th group. Please contact Coach Green if you are interested in volunteering at Field Day 2024. Thank you.
St. Stephen summer sports camps are the weeks of July 15-19 and 22-26. Basketball camp is July 15-19 and volleyball camp is July 22-26. The camp flyers and registration info will be in next week's Mustang Sports. St. Stephen parent volunteer soccer coach, Sean Heaberlin, will be hosting half day soccer camps this summer. The finalized dates and times and registration information will be posted in next week's Mustang Sports.
GO MUSTANGS
Coach Green
ANSWER to the Joke of the Week:
You have a good point.
Please Note: February Bingo has been cancelled due to church activities. March Bingo has been changed to March 12, 2024.
COVID 19 Decision Tree
Safe Environment Training and Fingerprints
Everyone needs updated safe environment training and fingerprints in order to volunteer in the school or to chaperone a field trip. Safe environment and fingerprints are good for 5 years. Attached here are the instructions on how to get your safe environment certificate and to have your fingerprints done. If you have any questions please contact Karen Biase at kbiase@sscsfl.org or call the front office at ext. 1100. Click the link for information here regarding fingerprints. Click for the live link here. For the safe environment click here for the live link .
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Mission Statement
St. Stephen Catholic School is devoted to inspiring students to achieve their full academic potential while demonstrating a desire to continue Jesus' mission by applying Catholic morals, beliefs, values, and practices in their everyday lives. We are committed to motivating students to sustain a lifelong love of learning.